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Seoul in 13 days: day-by-day itinerary and hotels

Thirteen days in the capital: royal palaces and listed shrines, hanok villages, night markets, the Bukhansan hike and the DMZ.

Sequenced by Kylian Updated on 13 August 2026

Download a free sample — South Korea, day 3 The Geunjeongjeon throne hall at Gyeongbokgung Palace
  • 13 days
  • 54 places
  • 13 nights
  • moderate pace
Start
Seoul (Incheon airport)
End
Seoul (Gangnam)
Main transport
Metro and bus (T-money card)
Recommended season
Spring (April-May, cherry blossoms) or autumn (October, foliage)

What you get

  • The complete itinerary: 13 days sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Hotel
  • The card of every hotel, with the address and a direct booking link
  • Quota tickets, fixed-date tickets and surcharges flagged in advance
  • The country quick guide: weather, transport, formalities, budget
  • A PDF file of 20 pages

What the price does not include

  • Flights
  • Hotel nights
  • Tickets and admission fees
  • Travel insurance
  • On-the-ground assistance during your trip

The travel book preview

The free day in full, with its hotel card. This is the sample.

Day 3

Palaces and royal shrine

Morning

A wooden pavilion of Changgyeonggung palace at the edge of its pond, under a blue sky
Changgyeonggung palace.

Changgyeonggung

Built for the dowager queens, Changgyeonggung is prized for its peaceful pavilions, its large pond and its colonial-era botanical greenhouse. It connects directly to the neighbouring palace of Changdeok.

Changdeok palace and secret garden

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Changdeokgung is the best-preserved Joseon palace, remarkable for the way it fits into the terrain. Its "secret garden" (Huwon), open by guided tour, unfolds pavilions, ponds and centuries-old trees.

Booking · compulsory for the secret garden (Huwon), guided tour at fixed times: royal.khs.go.kr (new tab) . Online from 6 days to 1 day ahead; half the places are sold on site on the day itself

Afternoon

The long red-columned wooden hall of Jongmyo shrine and its stone forecourt
The royal shrine of Jongmyo.

Jongmyo Shrine

A Confucian royal shrine listed by UNESCO, Jongmyo holds the tablets of the kings and queens of Joseon. Its long, strikingly austere wooden halls still host the Jongmyo Jerye, an ancestral rite with court music and dance.

Booking · guided tour on a timed slot, to be reserved (free access on Saturdays): royal.khs.go.kr (new tab)

Ikseon-dong Hanok Village

This maze of early-20th-century hanok lanes has been taken over by cafés, boutiques and restaurants with retro charm, becoming one of the most sought-after quarters in the city.

Unhyeongung

The residence where king Gojong grew up and where his wedding was held, Unhyeongung is an elegant late-Joseon aristocratic house, more intimate than the great palaces.

Evening

The Hongjecheon artificial waterfall lit in blue and purple after nightfall
The artificial waterfall of Hongjecheon.

Hongjecheon Artificial Waterfall

An artificial waterfall built on the Hongjecheon stream, lit up in the evening, offering a refreshing pause away from the classic tourist circuits.

Good to know

The secret garden (Huwon) of Changdeokgung can only be seen on a guided tour at fixed times: book your slot ahead. Jongmyo is also partly visited on guided slots, except on Saturdays (free visit).

The towers of the Seoul Dragon City complex lit up at dusk

Hotel · Night 3

Novotel Ambassador Seoul Yongsan

Inside the Seoul Dragon City complex in Yongsan, this upmarket Accor hotel connects directly to Yongsan station (KTX, metro). Indoor pool, gym and a panoramic lounge on the 40th floor overlooking the city.

Address
· 95 Cheongpa-ro 20-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 04372
Website
· ambatel.com/novotel/yongsan (new tab)
Check-in
3:00 PM · Check-out 11:00 AM
Book this hotel (new tab)

Buy this itinerary

€39 incl. tax

that is €3.00 per day of travel

The buy button becomes active once the box is ticked.

  • Secure payment through Stripe, bank card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
  • Available immediately in your customer account: online reading with clickable booking links, downloadable PDF for offline use
  • Method: what is checked, and when

A hotel in the itinerary closed or impossible to find, a place to visit permanently closed?

Within 12 months of purchase, email contact@etaperia.com

Itinerary corrected within 7 days, or refunded in full. Terms in article 12 of the T&Cs, on top of the legal warranty (new tab)

€39 incl. tax · 13 days

Buy

A question before buying? Email Kylian, reply within 48 working hours.

The day-by-day rundown

13 stops, 110 km as the crow flies

  1. Day 1 Arrival and the historic heart of Seoul Deoksugung and the historic heart Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  2. Day 2 Hanok village and Myeongdong Namsangol Hanok Village and Myeongdong Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  3. Day 3 Palaces and royal shrine Changdeokgung and Jongmyo shrine Free
  4. Day 4 Gyeongbokgung, the great palace Gyeongbokgung, the great palace Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  5. Day 5 Hiking in Bukhansan National Park Hiking in Bukhansan National Park Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  6. Day 6 Gangnam, temples and skyscrapers Gangnam and Bongeunsa temple Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  7. Day 7 Markets and the Namsan panorama Markets and the Namsan panorama Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  8. Day 8 Lotte World, the family day Lotte World, the family day Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  9. Day 9 Top of the Lotte Tower and the Olympic park Top of the Lotte Tower and the Olympic park Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  10. Day 10 National museum and memory of the war National museum and memory of the war Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  11. Day 11 Design, ramparts and street food Dongdaemun Design Plaza and ramparts Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  12. Day 12 Bukchon and royal tombs Bukchon and royal tombs Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  13. Day 13 The DMZ and the border with the North The DMZ from Imjingak Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF

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Country quick guide and logistics

The essentials of the country, scannable in ten seconds.

Weather and when to go

  • Four distinct seasons. Spring (April-May, cherry blossoms) and autumn (October, foliage) are the two ideal windows.
  • Hot, humid summer, with the monsoon in July. Cold, dry winter.
  • Yellow dust (hwangsa) blown in from mainland Asia is possible in spring: check the air quality index on days with westerly winds.

Transport and permits

  • Exceptional transport network. Rechargeable T-money card for the metro, buses and taxis.
  • From Incheon airport, the AREX express reaches Seoul station in about 45 minutes.
  • Google Maps is restricted in Korea: install Naver Map or KakaoMap, and Papago for translation.

Formalities and safety

  • Passport valid beyond the length of the stay. Short tourist stays visa-free for up to 90 days for many nationalities.
  • K-ETA electronic authorisation required in principle, but several countries, France among them, benefit from a temporary exemption that keeps being extended: check your status on k-eta.go.kr before departure.
  • No compulsory vaccine; up-to-date routine vaccinations recommended (DTP, hepatitis A and B). Tap water is drinkable in Seoul.
  • One of the safest countries in the world. Type C/F power sockets, 220 V.

Budget and meals

  • Currency: South Korean won (KRW). Bank cards accepted almost everywhere; a little cash remains useful at the markets.
  • Street food: €3 to €8. Simple restaurant: €8 to €15.
  • Integrated ticket for the 4 grand palaces and Jongmyo, Changdeokgung's Secret Garden (Huwon) included: 10,000 won, valid for three months. Only worth it if you visit the Huwon, without it the five sites come to just 9,000 won bought separately.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I receive?

Your Étaperia itinerary, available immediately in your customer account after payment: readable online with clickable booking links, and downloadable as a PDF for the trip. Every day is sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening, with the hotel for each night, its address and its booking link, and timed-entry tickets flagged in advance.

How is this better than what an AI gives me?

A generative AI composes a plausible list in seconds, without saying what was checked or when. At Étaperia, every itinerary is sequenced by hand, place by place, with the booking constraints spotted before it is too late to get them. The Method page says what is checked, against which source and on what date.

Can I adapt it to my dates and my pace?

Yes. The days are self-contained blocks: you can shift the departure, stretch a stage or skip a day without breaking what follows. Only timed-entry tickets require adjusting the dates accordingly, and they are all flagged.

What if a hotel or a place in the itinerary has closed?

Email contact@etaperia.com within 12 months of your purchase. If a hotel in the itinerary is closed or can no longer be found, or a place to visit has closed permanently, the itinerary is corrected in your customer account within 7 days, or you are refunded in full. A hotel fully booked on your dates, a seasonal closure or a change in opening hours or prices is not covered. This guarantee comes on top of the legal warranty of conformity; details in article 12 of the terms and conditions of sale.

Who is selling you this itinerary

  • Kylian, sole trader, SIRET 927 587 709 00035
  • Consumer mediator: ANM Consommation
  • Payment handled by Stripe: Étaperia never sees your card number
  • Publisher, not a travel agency: you book flights, hotels and tickets yourself

In the same country

This module is one leg of the full itinerary: Complete South Korea itinerary: 81 days, hotels and bookings

The complete itinerary

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